Overhead door locking mechanism



Jan. 22, 1946. l I c., BUEHNER 2,393,237

I OVERHEAD DOOR LOCKING MECHANISM I Filed Oct. 11,1944 2 Sheefs-Sheef 1 HTTOE/VEZS'.

I nh In V Jan.22,1946. 4 '.'BUEHN ER 2,393,287

OVERHEAD DOOR LOCKING MECHANISM Filed Oct. 11, 19,44 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 N & Q 7 INVENTOR.

momzv'mmw A ro/aways Patented Jan. 22, 194 6 UNITED STATE ,VPATEN T OFFICES lovnannzin noon LOCKINGMECHANISM Christ .Bu'ehner," Milwaukee, Wis, assignor to Phenix Manufacturing Company, Inc., Milwau kee, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application October 11, 1944, Serial No. 558,247

r 5 Claims. j (91. 292-177) head door locking mechanisms. v v The invention is particularly; although not solely, concerned with locking mechanism for an This invention relates to improvements in overoverhead door of the type-which includes two or more superimposed andfoldably connected sections arrangedv relative to tracks or 1 guiding means in a manner so that rollers or. bearings carried by the margins of the door ridein said tracks, and those carried by the top section of the door are on supports which-may project outor fold inwardly upon initiation of slight movement of the entire door,. with I the result that unlessthe door islocked in its lowered position in amanner eliminating play, the .upper. section of the door might be unauthorizedly worked or pushed inwardly to permit access to the interior;

of the building. With. the foregoing in mind,;

it is therefore, one of the objects of the present invention to provide a'locking mechanism for an;

overhead door which will prevent any player slight vertical movement of the door vwhenit is in its locked, closed position, whereby the upper panel may not be pushed inwardly. I i

. A further object of the invention is tojprovide;

inan overhead door, lockingandlatching mechanism which is easily operated from exteriorly of:

the door ,by the simple manipulation of, a push t onor plun en:

.A further object time; invention is to proof.head room is re.

- J .32 In conventional doors of the-type under cone.

that if the door is'partially open: andthe' look ing. rod'is projected, "it mayengage adjacent an exterior portion of the track with the result that when the door is then lowered, the offsetsurface "of the track will react" eccentrically against the projected'locking rod and pry oer} tain'hardware' loose from the door. The afore-' mentioned difficulty is overcome in the present" invention by a construction which eliminates the possibility of the lock being 'set whenthe door is in a position wherein the rod might be projected exteriorly of the track. a

A further object of the invention i top'rovide an overhead door locking mechanism wherein the parts are'arranged for easy connection, fa-

' cilitating assembly and mounting of the locking mechanismcna door and adjustments thereof to 'compensatefor warpageor uneven surfaces,"-

the connections being easily disengaged 'to" fa cilit'ate' repairs; replacements and" adjustments.

' A further object of the invention is to p o vide an overhead door locking mechanism which is of 'very simple construction, is' strong anddurablef is simple, andeflicient inr'o'peration;

which eliminates hazards attendant to improper operatiom'and which is Well adapted for the pur 30. and afliliated locking mechanism; andits partsv the claims, and- 5-, parts'inall of-the viewszj 1 V Fig. 1 is a reargor elevationaliview ofa .por-, tion of an overhead door in. its closed position;

vide, in an overheadwdoor, combination lock and latch mechanism which necessitates, on the ,ex

term!" of thedoor; a minimum. of {projecting hardware, thereby economizingin-the headroom required for the door when itis in its-overhead position; r

Y a further object rollers servesas ahousing for a reciprocatable ck n d mechanisms which utilize projectable shafts for locking engagement witha portionof a-guidinga track, or the like, are so arranged that a tampe' erer may operate the lockingmechanismregardess o t ros p ifltthe d o wi th r sult;

of I the-invention is, te.;p' -;1 videan overhead garage door lockingmeehanism; wherein the shaft for one of the door-guiding Certain type's'oi overhead garage door-locking;

go insectiony v poses'described.

With the above and other objects in view, the

invention consists 'of the improved overheaded'oor and combinations as set forthin all equivalents thereof.-

In the accompany n drawings in which the same reference, characters indicate the same showing the afliliatedlocking mechanism,"portions of the supporting structure bein ,Shown Fig."2' is an enlarged locking mechanism applied theretowiththe lock inits released position; 1

. Fig. '3 is-a sectional view takenonline 3- -3of Fig. -2;

-Fig. 4 is a similar sectional viewt jonly show-' ing the locking mechanismin its engaged or lock;

ing position;

f tional view taken on line 5- -5 .of Fig. 1';

.Fig. 6 isfia fragmentary detail sectional view taken on line '6-6 of Fig. 5;

. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary detail-viewf showing the releasableuniversal joint connection fragmentary detail view .of an inner-face portion of the door showingthe- Fig. 5 is an-enlarged fragmentary detail secbetween several of the locking mechanism members; and

Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken on line 88 of Fig. '7.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the complete sectional overhead door i5 is illustrated as having four sections, l6, i1, i8 and I9, but, in actual, practice, the door may include any number of sections. The sections. l5, l1, l8 and I9 are hinged together in superimposed relation by hinges 20, preferably disposed adjacent both side margins of the sections. For the purpose of guiding the door to and from its overhead position, there is provided adjacent each side of the door a metal. track 2| of channelled formation and comprising an upright sec tion 22, and overhead horizontal section 23, and

a curved section connecting the other sections.

The mechanism for guiding the door to and from its overhead position, except insofar as it is. associated, with: the improved locking mechanism with which the present invention is. especially concerned, will not. be. described in de tail, as it forms the subject matter of, my copending. application, Ser. No. 525.320; now Patent.

No. 2,375,837, dated May 15, 1945. The door guid-- ing. mechanism is, however. of the. type which requires a minimum. of head room when the door is in its: overhead position. To that end, the upright sections 22 of the tracks 2.! terminate below the upper edge of the closed door so that the curved sections. of the tracks curve; upwardly and inwardly from. the lower; portions: ofthe upper section IQ of the doors Guide rollers 25- for said upper.- door section are, therefore, carried by hinged plates. 26 mounted on the upper section [9, with, said'guide rollers. being engaged in and adapted to follow the curved and horizontal sections. of the trackv 2|. Th arrangement of. the roller-carrying. plates is. such that the projectionof the rollers relative to the plane of the door section: i8 is variable to compensate for differences. in the proximity of the face of said door section to the. tracks in different positions of the door. Below the upper section [9: all of the. hinges 20.; disposedv on the side margins. of the door sections have journalled therein shafts Hand 21" carrying guide rollers 2&' which ride in the tracks 2!. pair of intermediate sections of'the door, as the sections I! and i8, is modified somewhat from the other hinges in respect to the rollercarrying shaft 21' thereof, said shaft Zl-"being tubular with the bore thereof registering with an opening in the roller 28 carriedby said shaft, whereby saidtubular shaft 21 serves as a guiding housing for a reciprocatable locking rod- 29 as will hereinafter appear.

Mounted through one of the intermediate sections of the composite door l5 and at a convenient elevation from the ground is a lock barrel 30 in which, as is customary, tumblers are adapted to be actuated by a key inserted into the bar rel from exteriorly of the door. Turning the key and tumblers controlled thereby is effective to turn a lock projection or lug 3| which lodges within a recess 32 therefor in avertical locking bar 33. Hence, turning movement ofthelug 31- in the proper direction, through'the engagement of said lug with the bar 33, lifts the bar. The bar is slidably mounted in a bracket 34 on the inner face of the door. As will appear hereinafter, and as is shown in Figs. 3 and 4, when thebar 33 is in its lifted position thelatching mechanism; to be described, is released, while A hinge 20 between a selected when said bar is in its lowered position, the latching mechanism is held or locked in its engaged position of Fig. 4.

The latch mechanism comprises a bell crank lever 35 of bifurcated formation and pivotally mounted as at 36 on the inner face of the door, in a position to pivot in a horizontal plane, and immediately below the vertical locking bar 33. The bell crank lever is adapted to be rocked by a horizontally disposed plunger bar 31. The plunger bar is slidably mounted through the door section so as to project outwardly of both faces thereof. Plates on the opposite faces of the door section have inturned stamped flanges 38 which enter the bore in. the door section through which the. plunger isv passed and form bearings for the bar plunger to relieve wear on the stock of the door section. The inner end of the plunger bar 31 is embraced by inner arm portions of the bell crank lever 35 and is formed with projecting transverse pin. portions. 39. engaged within slots 40. in said bellcranklever. The free. ends of the other arms of the bell. crank lever have pivotally attached thereto the inner end of a bifurcated, angularlyshaped H. The outer end portions of the link 41 are crimped. and have tightly secured'therebetween the offset outer end portion of a horizontally disposed operating strap or connection 42. or connection 42 is forked and hooked, as at 42". The hooked extremity 42 of said strap 6.2 is of considerableimportance in respect to the manner in. which it releasably and universally adjustably engages. the end portion of the reciprocatable locking rod 29. As will appear most clearly-from Figs. 7' and 8,. said locking rod 29, slightly inwardly of its inner end is formed with opposite plain surfaced grooves 435- which form with the rod enlargement therebeyond opposed shoulders 44:. The reduced portion of the rod 29, formed by the recesses 43, is of a. dimension to fit within the slotted: opening in theextremity 42" of the connection. 42. Thus, by disposing the member 42 angularly" in the manner shown inbroken lines. in Fig. 7:, the hooked extremity 42 of the member 42} may be engaged with the slotted and shouldered portion of the rod 29, whereupon the member 42is then turned horizontally and is effectively hooked with the end portion of the rod 29. Turning or angular movements of; the connected members 23 and 42 is permitted, and the arrangement described is especially desirable and advantageous in installing the mechanism ona door. It is also obvious that said parts may be readily disconnected for repairs, replacements or adjustments, and the universal movement permitted as between said connected elements adapts the arrangement for easy installation regardless of uneven surfaces or'warpage.

It should be observed that in addition to being guided 'by' the tubular portion 21-" of the hinge 20; the reciprocatable locking rod 29 has another portion thereof guidingly supported by the outwardly directed flange of a bracket 45' mounted on an inner-face portion of the door. A coiled spring 46 surrounds the portion of the rod 29 between the flange of the bracket 45 and the hooked extremity 42' of the connection 42, being confined, as showmand placing the composite connection 2H2" under tension-when the same is'reci'procated for a locking projection of the rod29',asin-Flg.4'. r

The outer vertical flange of The opposite end of said strap the vertical section 2 2 of a track 2| has anaperture or openfore, there-is no possibility of improper opera ing'lltherein in registration with the rod29.

Saidaperture' is only slightly larger than the diameter of the rod 29 so that there will be a of play as between the rodand the aperture when the rod is prolected'through the aperture. The latter may only be accomplished when the overhead door isin its closed vertical position, and it is desired to latch, or latch and lock the door; Then, the mechanism is operated to project the connection 42 andengaged rod 29 to the left, relative to the drawings,'whereupon the parts will move from the position of Figs. 2 and 3 to the position of'Fig. 4, projecting an end portion of the rod 29 through the aperture 41 in the anchored track 2!. this is accomplished, not only is the entire compo'site door latched against vertical movement, but, by virtue of'the' close fit as between the rod-29 and the aperture, there is a minimum of play and consequently no vertical movement of any consequence may be imparted to the door such as might be suflicient to cause the guide rollers 25 for the upper 'door'section 19 to move into aportion of the track which might permit undesirable inward swinging movement of the upper door section Hi. The reciprocation of the composite element 42-29 is accomplished through a single operation transmitted by the bell crank lever 35, the link 4|,- and the connection 42, all previously described. The control and operation of the latching mechanism is accomplished from exteriorly of the building through the simple expedient of pushing the plunger bar 31. If it is desired to manipulate the latching mechanism from interiorly of the building, this can readily be accomplished by manually swinging'the bell crank lever 35. 9

Operation of the latching mechanism can only be accomplished when the vertical locking bar 33, previously referred to, is in its raised position. When the latching mechanism is engaged and the lockingbar 33 is in its depressed position, the free lower end of said bar engages in a slot 48 in the plunger bar 31, thereby holding the plunger bar in its innermost position. When the locking bar 33 is reciprocated upwardly, the

slot 48 is disengaged, thereby freeing the parts for movement, and permitting reverse swinging movement of the bell crank lever 35 and associated connections to accomplish a withdrawal of the latching rod 29 from the track aperture 41. The movement of the parts in the last stated direction is facilitated by expansion of the coiled spring 46.

As was mentioned, reciprocations of the looking bar 33 in the proper direction to accomplish locking and unlocking of the mechanism is accomplished from exteriorly of the door by the ,key operated tumblers in the barrel 30, and from interiorly of the building, the locking bar' may be lowered or raised by manually engaging the flanged upper extremity thereof.

The improved overhead door latching and locking mechanism entails a minimum of parts which may be easily assembled, installed and adjusted.- The tubular shaft 21', mounted on the hinge 20, forms a protective sleeve for a portion of the reciprocatable rod 29.. The outer end of said rod, which may for locking purposes be projected through the roller 28, is always housed within the channel of the track 2|. 'The latching mechanism may not be operated to project the rod 29 unless the same is in alignment with the track aperture 41, and this occurs only when the door is inits lowered, closed position. There- When I l the parts.

tion of the latching mechanism at a time when the door is partiallyopen and nothing can occur in this respect which might wedge or deflect The invention furthermore provides efiicientand'easily operated mechanism for positively latching, or latching and locking, the door;

The mechanism has a minimum ofprojecting parts and will not adversely affect the overhead roomrequired by the door when open.

-While the latching mechanism has been shown and described as extending from a central por-. tionof the door outwardly to onlyone side thereof for latching engagement with the track along one margin of the door, it is obvious and it is within the scope of the present invention that the latching mechanism may be duplicated'for the other margin of the door so that sets of latching rods and connections, extending in opposite directions from the central operating plunger, be simultaneously actuated thereby. The overhead door latchingand locking mechanism is of simple and novel construction and is well adapted for the purposes-described.

The improved latching and locking mechanism is'not to be limited to incorporation in connection with the particular type of door and guiding mechanism shown and described be- 2 causethe improvement is susceptible of more general application and all embodiments are contemplated as may come within the scope of the claims. I

What is claimed as the invention is: 1. Fastening means for an'overhead door of the type which includes a plurality of sections hinged together in superimposed relation to fit in a, door frame with tracks adjacent the sides of tions engaging the tracks to guide the door sec-- '40 the door frame and hearings on the door sections into and out of the frame, one of the bearings being tubular and the track adjacent said tubular bearing when the door is in closed position within the frame being formed with an aligned socket, comprising a latching. bar reciprocatably mounted in said tubular bearing and projectable into said track socket only in the closed position of the door, manual control means for the latch mounted on the door remote from said socket, and a jointed linkage directly connecting said control means to the latching bar.

2. Fastening means for an overhead door of the type which includes a plurality of sections hinged together in superimposed relation to fit in a door frame with tracks adjacent the sides of the door frame and bearings on the door sections engaging the tracks to guide the door sections into and out of the frame, one of the bearings being tubular and the track adjacent said tubular hearing when the door is in closed position within the frame being formed with an aligned socket, com prising a latching bar reciprocatably mounted in said tubular bearing and projectable into said track socket only in the closed position of the door, manual control means for the latch mounted on the door remote from said socket, and a jointed linkage extending in a rectilinear direction relative to the bar and connecting said control means to the latching bar, the connection between said linkage and the latching bar being disengageable bar reciprocably carried byv the door and project-1 able intosaid socket. onlyin the closed position of the door, manual control means mountedion an intermediate portion of: the door, and'a link.

in a door frame with tracks adjacent the sides ofthe door frameand bearings on the door sections engaging the tracks to guide the door sections into and out of the frame, one of the bearings: being tubular andthe track adjacent said tubular bearing when the door is in closed position within the frame being formed with an alined socket, comprising an elongated latching rod reciprocatably mounted in said tubular bearing and arranged for projection beyond the door margin and into said track socket to latch the door when it is in closed position, the inner end portion of said rod being recessed and shouldered, a lever pivotally mounted on the door remote from said tubular bearing, means accessible from a face of the door for moving said lever, anda link connecting the lever with the inner end of the rod, the rod engaging end of the link being formed with a hookshaped' fork releasahly engaging the recessed and shouldered end of the rod and universally adjustable with respect thereto.

-r of the; door frame and bearings on the door sections'engagingthe trackstoguide the door sec.-

tions-into and out of the frame, one of the bear-- ings being tubular and the track adjacent said tubular bearing when the door isin closed position within the frame being formed with an alinedsocket, comprising an elongated latching. rod reciprocatably mounted, in said tubular bearing and arranged for projection beyond the (1001" margin and into: said track socket to latch the doorwhen it is in closed position, the inner end portion of said rod'beingrecessed and shouldered, a lever pivotally mounted on the door remotefromsaid tubular'bearing, means accessible from, a face of the door for moving said lever, a link connecting the. lever with the inner end of the rod, the rod engaging end of the link being formed with a hook-shaped fork releasablyt engaging the recessed and shouldered end of the rod and: universally adjustable with respect thereto, and a confinedcoiled springassociated with the inner end portionof therod and bearing against the forked end or said link to resiliently hold it in engagement with the shouldered endof. the rod and to yieldingly oppose projection of the rod and connected link.

, CHRIST BU-EHNER. 

